USS Robert Kerrey

History
United States
Name	Robert Kerrey
Namesake	Robert Kerrey
Builder	Ingalls Shipbuilding
Identification	Hull number: DDG-146
Status	Authorized
General characteristics
Class & type	Arleigh Burke-class destroyer
Displacement	9,217 tons (full load)
Length	510 ft (160 m)
Beam	66 ft (20 m)
Propulsion	4 × General Electric LM2500 gas turbines 100,000 shp (75,000 kW)
Speed	31 knots (57 km/h; 36 mph)
Complement	380 officers and enlisted
Armament	Guns: 1 × 5-inch (127 mm)/62 Mk 45 Mod 4 (lightweight gun) 1 × 20 mm (0.8 in) Phalanx CIWS 2 × 25 mm (0.98 in) Mk 38 machine gun system 4 × 0.50 in (12.7 mm) caliber guns Missiles: 1 × 32-cell, 1 × 64-cell (96 total cells) Mk 41 vertical launching system (VLS): RIM-66M surface-to-air missile RIM-156 surface-to-air missile RIM-174A Standard ERAM RIM-161 anti-ballistic missile RIM-162 ESSM (quad-packed) BGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missile RUM-139 vertical launch ASROC Torpedoes: 2 × Mark 32 triple torpedo tubes: Mark 46 lightweight torpedo Mark 50 lightweight torpedo Mark 54 lightweight torpedo
Armor	Kevlar-type armor with steel hull. Numerous passive survivability measures.
Aircraft carried	2 × MH-60R Seahawk helicopters
Aviation facilities	Double hangar and helipad

USS Robert Kerrey (DDG-146) is the planned 96th Arleigh Burke-class (Flight III) Aegis guided missile destroyer of the United States Navy. She is named for former U.S. Senator Joseph Robert Kerrey, who was awarded the Medal of Honor. This will be the first Navy vessel named after Kerrey.

Design and construction

Main article: Arleigh Burke-class destroyer § Flight III

As a Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, she would be mounted with the more powerful AN/SPY-6 radar compared to her sister ships. This radar, and other modifications, would allow Flight III destroyers to serve as a replacement for the air-defense roles of Ticonderoga-class cruisers.

She was ordered in 2023 as part of a larger 5-year plan to build 9 Flight III ships. In 2025, she was named after former U.S. Senator, Nebraska Governor, and naval officer Joseph Robert Kerrey. "This will be the first Navy vessel named in his honor, and it is most appropriate we do so, for his actions in Vietnam and his continued service to this country well beyond his Naval service."